Miniature locket



UNITED STATES FFIC@ PATENT E. N. FOOTE, OF NEV .ENG-LAND VILLAGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

MINIATURE LOCKET.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, E. N. FooTE, of New England Village, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Photographic Loekets; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same,ret`erence beinghad to theaccompanyingdrawings,forming part of this specication, in which- Figure l is an elevation of a locket made according to my invention. Fig. 2 is an ele- Y vation ot'v a transverse section, taken on the line y ot Fig. 4. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the locket, showing it open. Fig. 4 is an eleva-tion ot' a longitudinal section, taken on the line x ot' Fig. 2.

Similar letters ot' reference indicate like parts.

This invention consists in a new ornamentto wit, aI locket wherein is produce! in ininiature an imitation ot` a photographic album, with spaces for photographic and other pictures, the leaves or receptacles for the pictures and the outer sides ot' the locket being so attached to the body thereof as to be capa-- ble of opening wide to expose the picture to view.

A is the locket ready to be worn, suspended to a chain from a ring, B, or a catch ot' any kind, which ring B is here shown connected to the upper edge of one ot' the leaves I. The

locket is composed substantially ot' several leaves I, covers O-C, a hollow back, the crosssection of which resembles a lens of unequal convexity, the side of the least convexity, D, being the outer side ofthe buck, and the side of greatest convexity being the inner side of the back. The edges of the outer side, D, moreover, extend beyond the lines of intersection ot' the parts D E, as shown in Fig. 2 at a a. The convex plates l) E are united bysoldering or brazing, and the hollow space between them is closed at either end by plates b b according to the art of the goldsmith.

C C are covers, which are hinged to the concave face of the convex plate D beneath the edges a. a, and in such a way as to enable the said covers to be moved when they are opened through an arc of about ninety degrees, so as fully to expose the adjacent leaf I. The leaves I may be more or less numerous, according to the thinness of the leaves and the size of the curved plate E. They are made with double walls open below, atter the manner of the leaves of photographic albums, and cut away in the center ot1 their areas, as at c, to expose the pictures secured between the double walls thereof.- The said leaves are hinged separately to the back of the locket in lines parat lel with the hinges of the covers, and are uncqual in breadth, according to the position they severally occupy on the con vexity of the plate E, so that when the leaves are closed their front edges shall be in the same plane as represented in Fig. 2.

F is a spring-clasp, hinged to the front edge ot' one of the covers C, which takes hold of a keeper, F', on the front edge ofthe other cover, by means of which the locket is locked. The position of the hinges of the several leaves at different elevations ot' the convexity ot' the curved plate E enables one to move each leaf when it is being opened through an are equal or nearly equal to that described by the respective covers C, so that the several leaves when opened to their full extent stand nearly at right-angles to the adjacent unopened leai",

thereby fully exposing the several pictures successively as the leaves are opened.

rIhe leaves I are to be made ot' metal, such as gold, silver, or any other metal suitable for lockets, as are also the coversand the other parts ofthe ornament, and they may be chased or otherwise ornamented with any suitable design such as are proper for articles of jewelry.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent-- 1. The photographic locket A, constructed and operated substantially as above described.

2. Securing the covers ot the locket to the extensions a ai, respectively, of the part D ot' its back, substantially as above described.

3. Making the inner plate, E, of the back of the locket convex and rigid and hinging the leaves I thereto at different elevations on its conve-Xity, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

E. N. FUOTE.

Witnesses:

M. M. LIVINGSTON, C. L. TOPLIFF. 

